Pneumatic rivet-holder.



PATENTED JUNE 23, 1903..

' E. GUNNBLL.

RH. mm 1 m n N T Em VD IE n, r mu Tm AT m mm NP PA N0 MODEL.

against the head of has been partially navs ma ELIAS GUNNELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

Patented June 23, 1903.

PATENT a OFFICE.

ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO W.

IRVING BABCOCK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PNEUMATIC RlVET-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 731 ,772, dated June 23, 1903.

Application filed June 20, 1896. Serial No. 596,293.

To aZLwhom itmaylconcern:

Be it known that I, ELIAS GUNNELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook, in the State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Pneumatic Rivet- Holder, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification; I

My novel device is intended for use in riveting metal plate's or shapes together where the shank of the rivet is passed through coincident holes in the plates and its head is held against the surface of one of the plates while the opposite end of the rivet is battered down and headed with a suitable hammer. It is intended more particularly for use in riveting upon large heavy structures, such as boilers, the steel hulls of ships and other vessels, and similar work where riveting-machines cannot be conveniently employed and Where-the work of riveting must be done by hand. It is the present practicein such work for one workman to hold the rivet in position, with its head against the surface of the plate at one side, by means of a heavy hammer-head or other suitable piece of metal which he presses jecting end of the shank of the rivet at the opposite side of the plates is struck with hammers by two other workmen and battered down and headed. a The hammer-head or other holding device which the first workman employs to hold the rivetin position is generally called the holder-on, and the workman himself is designated by that name. In heavy work it is necessary to employ two such men with two hammer-heads or holding devices in order to properly hold the rivet up against the plates, while two men are employed to hammer the end of the rivet at the opposite side of the plates, and where it is desired to finish the latter end of the rivet with a rounded head a suitable heading-tool or button-set is held against the end of the'rivet by one of the two workmen after theend of the rivet blows of the hammer are delivered to such tool by the other workman. The holders-on have the rivet, while the pro-- battered down, While the plate A. Now,

(No model.)

to receive the shock of the hammer-blows upon the opposite end of the rivet, which is a very considerable strain upon them, while the workman who holds the heading-tool, where one is used, is also subjected to more or less shock from the blows of the hammer.

My invention may be said to consist of a novel pneumatic holder-on which takes the place of the workman or workmen and the hammer-head or other holding device heretofore employed for holding the rivet in position, with its head against one side of the plates, While its opposite end is being hammered upon. It is especially adapted for use where pneumatic hammers are employed in place of the usual hand-hammers for heading the rivets, since where such hammers are used for that purpose it has been found especially difficult for the holder-011 heretofore employed to properly hold the rivet in position, while mynovel device perfectly performs that work.

Having thus indicated the general nature and purpose of my invention, I will proceed to a description of it in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents an elevation, partly in section, showing my invention in use in connection with a pneumatic hammer in the act of riveting a pair of plates together; and Fig. 2, an enlarged detail, partly in section, of the piston and removable head of the rivet-holder or holder-on, the pair of plates, the rivet passed through them, and the head of the riveting-tool of the pneumatic hammer.

The same letters of reference are employed to represent corresponding parts in the two views.

In the drawings, A A resent two overlapping are to be riveted together and which are held in fixed position-as, forinstance, forn1- ing part of a boiler or other large andheavy piece of work.

13 is the rivet holes in the two may be taken to reppassed through coincident plates and provided with a .head 0, fitting against the outer side of the as before explained, under the present practice upon work such as I have indicated one or two workmen would hold the metal plates which head of the rivet up against the plate A with a suitable holding device, while the projecting right-hand end of the rivet would be battered down and headedupon the outer side of the plate A by the blows of hand-hammers.

My novel device for holding the rivet in position-with its head against the plate A is interposed between such plate and any convenient fixed support or abutment, with its rivet-holding end bearing against the head (3 of the rivet and its opposite end bearing against such fixed support, while the pneumatic pressure is employed to hold it firmly in such position and press its rivet-holding 611d against the head of the rivet, and yet permit it to be released and readily moved from one rivet to another.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, D represents a cylinder closed at its left11and end by a plug E and having screwed upon its right-hand end a cap or cylinder-head F, through which passes the rod G of the piston II, fitting within the cylinder. The extreme right-hand end of the piston-rod G is tapped to receive the threaded shank of a removable rivet-holding head I, which is provided with a recess adapted to fit the head 0 of the rivetB. Screwed into the cylinder D near its left-hand end is a short section of pipe J, which has interposed in it a three-way cock K and to which is connected a flexible tube L, leading to a source of supply of compressed air. Screwed upon the left-hand end of the cylinder D is a section of pipe M, whose left-hand end abuts against the fixed support N and in the present instance is shown provided with a cap 0.

P represents a pneumatic hammer of familiar construction, to which compressed air is supplied through a flexible tube Q and in whose left-hand end fits the shank of the riveting-tool R, whose head is provided with a suitable recess S to act upon the projecting end of the rivet-shank B.

Now under the construction and arrangeinent of parts above described when the handle of the cock K is turned to admit compressed air to the cylinder D behind the piston H the air so admitted will press the piston and piston-rod to the right and the cylinder D and pipe M to the left against the support N and cause the rivet-holding head I to bear against the head (J of the rivet with a force determined by the degree of air-pressure and area of the piston II and firmly hold the rivet in position while the projecting end of its shank is battered down and headed by the tool R of the pneumatic hammer P. It will be seen that by placing the tool in the position shown in Fig. l and admitting compressed air to the cylinder the tool will be maintained in such position without the aid of an attendant. Upon turning the handle of the cock K to position to cut off the sup ply of compressed air and open the exhaust from the cylinder D the piston-rod G may be readily moved to the left to disengage its holding-head I from the head of the rivet and the whole device be moved opposite the next rivet, whereupon by again turning the handle of the cock K to position to close the exhaust and admit compressed air to the cylinder D the holding-head I will be pressed firmly against the head of the new rivet to hold it in position while its opposite end is worked upon.

, From the foregoing description it will be seen that my novel device may be moved from one rivet to another with great facility and that when placed in position over any rivet and supplied with compressed air it will hold the head of the rivet firmly in position while the opposite end of the rivet is being worked upon. As heretofore explained, in heavy work it has been common under the old method to employ four men in the operation of riveting, whereas it will be understood from the foregoing description that by the employment of my novel holding device in connection with a pneumatic hammer two men can do the same work very much more rapidly and in a very much better manner than could the four men before, while the shock and strain upon the holderson heretofore employed, as well as upon the workman who held the button-set or heading-tool, are entirely obviated. It is furthermore possible for a single workman to carry on the operation of riveting alone, moving from one side of the plate to the other to alternately adjust the holding device and operate the'hammer, which was not possible under the old method.

A number of pipes M of different lengths may be used in connection with the same cylinder D, according to the distance between the plates being riveted and the most convenient support for the end of the pipe M to abut against. The cylinder D will of course permit of an adjustment of approximately the full length of the cylinder, and where this is sufficient the pipe M may be dispensed with and the left-hand end of the cylinder be allowed to abut against the support.

The piston shown in the drawings is composed of the head or disk I-I, formed upon the rod G, the nut S, screwed upon the reduced threaded end of the rod G, and the leather packing-cup U, confined between the nut S and head H and surrounding the nut, the nut being provided with a circumferential groove to which the air-pressure is admitted through a passage XV in the nut to cause the leather cup U to be pressed outward against the bore of the cylinder; but any other suitable form of piston may be employed. It will be understood that the cylinder D is provided at its right-hand end with an air-vent, which will permit ingress and egress of the atmosphere at that end of the cylinder as the piston is moved in one direction or another. In the present instance the piston-rod G may be assumed to fit loosely enough in the hole in the cap F to furnish such air-vent.

The provision of the removable holdinghead I permits heads having diiferent forms of recesses to fit different rivet-heads to be substituted for one another upon the piston greater or less length, according to the range of adjustment desired, that which I have in use being eighteen inches in length, While the piston-rod is about double that length. The lengths of the pipes M where a number of them are provided will of course Vary With the additional range of adjustment desired for the device.

Having thus fully described my invention,

I claim- A portable pneumatic holder-on for riveting, adapted to be interposed between the work, and a support, or abutment, and consisting of a pneumatic cylinder, a piston in the form of a rod projecting from the cylinder, and provided with a rivet-holding head at its extended outer end, means for admitting and releasing air near the rear end of the cylinder, and a detachable section on the rear end of the cylinder, the construction and arrangement being such that the tool is adapted to be held in position alone by the pressure of air in the cylinder, as herein set forth.

ELIAS GUNNELL.

Witnesses:

O. R. SINCLAIR,- L. E. GEER. 

